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Anchor Brewing Company ends national distribution, kills Christmas Ale

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Re: Anchor Brewing Company ends national distribution, kills Christmas Ale

#91

Post by jeffbee »

bsder wrote: post #83
AndrewKemendo wrote: post #65

>sold to Sapporo in 2017 Ah, I was wondering where the pressure was coming from. The idea that this 150 year old brewery is closing down a truly cornerstone beer in craft beer history because the label art is expensive - despite weathering untold recessions and tough periods - strains credulity

What is happening in the craft beer market? Ballast Point had a similar trajectory. They got bought for a gigabuck and now are just gone . Why the hell would you buy a company and then screw it up ? In the case of Ballast Point, all Constellation Brands had to do was leave the bought company alone . And, no, I don't believe that the issue is because you can buy great beers in every market. Hogwash. Maybe I can buy IP…

Unless this changed in the last few days, Ballast Point still has distribution in California.

Re: Anchor Brewing Company ends national distribution, kills Christmas Ale

#92

Post by hprotagonist »

bsder wrote: post #83
AndrewKemendo wrote: post #65

>sold to Sapporo in 2017 Ah, I was wondering where the pressure was coming from. The idea that this 150 year old brewery is closing down a truly cornerstone beer in craft beer history because the label art is expensive - despite weathering untold recessions and tough periods - strains credulity

What is happening in the craft beer market? Ballast Point had a similar trajectory. They got bought for a gigabuck and now are just gone . Why the hell would you buy a company and then screw it up ? In the case of Ballast Point, all Constellation Brands had to do was leave the bought company alone . And, no, I don't believe that the issue is because you can buy great beers in every market. Hogwash. Maybe I can buy IP…

> Side question: Why is everything in craft brew now shipping in cans instead of bottles? When did that happen?

about a decade ago, because it’s cheaper, skunks less, is more sustainable, and is all around just the better way to ship single units of beer.

Re: Anchor Brewing Company ends national distribution, kills Christmas Ale

#93

Post by jaredhallen »

bsder wrote: post #83
AndrewKemendo wrote: post #65

>sold to Sapporo in 2017 Ah, I was wondering where the pressure was coming from. The idea that this 150 year old brewery is closing down a truly cornerstone beer in craft beer history because the label art is expensive - despite weathering untold recessions and tough periods - strains credulity

What is happening in the craft beer market? Ballast Point had a similar trajectory. They got bought for a gigabuck and now are just gone . Why the hell would you buy a company and then screw it up ? In the case of Ballast Point, all Constellation Brands had to do was leave the bought company alone . And, no, I don't believe that the issue is because you can buy great beers in every market. Hogwash. Maybe I can buy IP…

As far as the cans, it's just a better way to package beer. It stays fresher longer due to less oxidation and also no light infiltration.

As far as Ballast Point in particular, I can only offer conjecture. Sculpin was great ten years ago, but the craft has moved forward and I don't feel like Ballast Point kept up. In my opinion, their recipes are dated. Whether that's due to the acquisition or not I couldn't say, but I believe that's why they've fallen out of favor.

Re: Anchor Brewing Company ends national distribution, kills Christmas Ale

#94

Post by rootusrootus »

pkulak wrote: post #14

Personally, I have so many great, local breweries, I never think to get anything from out of state, usually not even out-of-city. This sounds like a reasonable move seeing the proliferation of great beers.

I'm guilty of the same. I'm about halfway between Portland and Bend, which are both high on the list of breweries per capita, so I can try a huge variety of beers without ever needing to look outside the state. I try to get local beer whenever we travel, but I mostly find that it's just the same as the local stuff, it doesn't feel different.

Re: Anchor Brewing Company ends national distribution, kills Christmas Ale

#95

Post by bsder »

jeffbee wrote: post #91
bsder wrote: post #83

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What is happening in the craft beer market? Ballast Point had a similar trajectory. They got bought for a gigabuck and now are just gone . Why the hell would you buy a company and then screw it up ? In the case of Ballast Point, all Constellation Brands had to do was leave the bought company alone . And, no, I don't believe that the issue is because you can buy great beers in every market. Hogwash. Maybe I can buy IP…

Unless this changed in the last few days, Ballast Point still has distribution in California.

It's a shadow of its former self, though.

I have to work to find Ballast Point now. Before the buyout, I could buy it at gas stations and grocery stores.

Re: Anchor Brewing Company ends national distribution, kills Christmas Ale

#96

Post by cwzwarich »

bsder wrote: post #83
AndrewKemendo wrote: post #65

>sold to Sapporo in 2017 Ah, I was wondering where the pressure was coming from. The idea that this 150 year old brewery is closing down a truly cornerstone beer in craft beer history because the label art is expensive - despite weathering untold recessions and tough periods - strains credulity

What is happening in the craft beer market? Ballast Point had a similar trajectory. They got bought for a gigabuck and now are just gone . Why the hell would you buy a company and then screw it up ? In the case of Ballast Point, all Constellation Brands had to do was leave the bought company alone . And, no, I don't believe that the issue is because you can buy great beers in every market. Hogwash. Maybe I can buy IP…

> Why is everything in craft brew now shipping in cans instead of bottles? When did that happen?

- They block all light

- They’re better sealed than bottles

- They weigh less and are more compact than bottles

- They don’t break

- They’re more often recycled

The freshness reasons probably correlate with the rise of hazy IPAs, which are more sensitive to freshness than other styles.

Re: Anchor Brewing Company ends national distribution, kills Christmas Ale

#97

Post by wrycoder »

subpixel wrote: post #40

I live in New England. There isn’t a single brewery in any New England state that would cause an uproar if it ceased to sell beer tomorrow. Sure I have some preferred beers but they are all interchangeable in the big picture. Such is progress - there is no more regional taste, only trend. Even the bottle conditioned beer you stand in line for on vacation - a bottle of Duvel will be reliably better and probably cheape…

Sure there is. Alchemist. But, you can only get it within 100 miles of Waterbury VT, it’s so popular and limited. Try the Focal Banger.

Re: Anchor Brewing Company ends national distribution, kills Christmas Ale

#98

Post by tptacek »

bsder wrote: post #83
AndrewKemendo wrote: post #65

>sold to Sapporo in 2017 Ah, I was wondering where the pressure was coming from. The idea that this 150 year old brewery is closing down a truly cornerstone beer in craft beer history because the label art is expensive - despite weathering untold recessions and tough periods - strains credulity

What is happening in the craft beer market? Ballast Point had a similar trajectory. They got bought for a gigabuck and now are just gone . Why the hell would you buy a company and then screw it up ? In the case of Ballast Point, all Constellation Brands had to do was leave the bought company alone . And, no, I don't believe that the issue is because you can buy great beers in every market. Hogwash. Maybe I can buy IP…

Ok, you're calling this sentiment "hogwash", but I think it might be testable. Name the locale you say you can only get IPAs in, and we can probably search quickly to see if there are regional breweries there, and what they're selling. Obviously, in Chicago, we're spoiled for regional craft beer options (although the last time I was drinking beer, which was years ago, we'd still be pulling good brett sours in from Michigan).

Let's get concrete about this. I sort of believe what other people are saying, that regardless of what Anchor makes available outside California, we're far better off today than we were in Anchor's heyday. But maybe I'm wrong! It'd be interesting to find out.

Re: Anchor Brewing Company ends national distribution, kills Christmas Ale

#99

Post by tptacek »

AndrewKemendo wrote: post #65

>sold to Sapporo in 2017 Ah, I was wondering where the pressure was coming from. The idea that this 150 year old brewery is closing down a truly cornerstone beer in craft beer history because the label art is expensive - despite weathering untold recessions and tough periods - strains credulity

I'm not sure why that's hard to believe. For most of those 150 years, Anchor had a sector of the market to itself. But there are 9,552 craft breweries in the US today, and several hundred of them are quite excellent.

Re: Anchor Brewing Company ends national distribution, kills Christmas Ale

#100

Post by olegious »

bsder wrote: post #83
AndrewKemendo wrote: post #65

>sold to Sapporo in 2017 Ah, I was wondering where the pressure was coming from. The idea that this 150 year old brewery is closing down a truly cornerstone beer in craft beer history because the label art is expensive - despite weathering untold recessions and tough periods - strains credulity

What is happening in the craft beer market? Ballast Point had a similar trajectory. They got bought for a gigabuck and now are just gone . Why the hell would you buy a company and then screw it up ? In the case of Ballast Point, all Constellation Brands had to do was leave the bought company alone . And, no, I don't believe that the issue is because you can buy great beers in every market. Hogwash. Maybe I can buy IP…

I think this is part of the reason why Berkshire Hathaway has been so successful. Sure they buy good companies, but for the most part they buy them, keep the current management and then leave them alone to continue to do the things that made the company successful in the first place.
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